Black + White Geometric Print Dress in Wool Rayon

I am currently on the hunt for thicker-weight fabrics with draping properties to make winter dresses out of. This Marc Jacobs border print wool-rayon woven from Mood Fabrics caught my eye because I know rayon fabrics to have a great amount of drape and combined with wool I thought it would be perfect for winter. Also border print fabrics are fun to work with. I used Butterick 6409 for the pattern and made a few minor tweaks. There are lots of ways to use this fabric creatively because it has a thick border on one side and a thinner one on [...]

Wool + Lace Black and White Dress

I’ve just finished a classy wool dress for fall/winter that I’m in love with! The idea for this garment has been floating around my brain for years and I’m just so pleased to see it turn out exactly how I imagined. I knew I wanted to play around with lace motifs and needed a lace that I could cut into that wouldn’t fray. The one I used is from Mood fabrics and is all sold out but here is a black 3D guipure lace that’s similar. The white is an ivory wool twill also from Mood fabrics and also all sold out. [...]

Textured Wool Skirt

Finding wool clothing in south Texas is just about impossible. Of course our winters are pretty mild and don’t last half the year, but it does get cold here. Well, cold to me anyway. If I want wool clothing I have to make it myself, which I am perfectly okay with as it’s always such a well behaved fabric. I am really into textures lately, so when I spotted this striped novelty wool-acrylic blend at Moodfabrics.com, I quickly bought 1.5 yards without anything in mind. I decided to use Vogue 9154 and make the knee length version of the skirt. [...]

A Final Dress for Summer in Striped Embroidered Cotton

When it comes to picking new projects, I am inspired by both fabric choice and pattern choice pretty equally. This time it was the pattern that drove my decisions. I just adored Vogue 1499 when it was released this past spring. What really makes this design special is the way the stripes are laid out – front and back bodice on the cross grain, sides on and angle, pleated skirt a continuation of the cross grain. Shortly after I bought the pattern Mood posted a black & white striped floral embroidered cotton woven to their website. Perfect! I’ll take 2 [...]

Kitty Cat Border Print Wrap Shorts

I try to steer clear of juvenile fabrics since I’m in my *cough* late 30′s and don’t want to appear like I’m desperately hanging on to my youth, but this fabric just begged me to buy it. It’s a purple and red cat print bamboo twill from Moodfabric.com, and is still available as of this morning. Mood labeled it as being a “Famous Designer” fabric but I’ll just spill the beans and tell you it’s from Anna Sui. It’s long and thin with a border of maroon and red stripes and I had no idea what I was going to [...]

Green & Ivory Rose Print Pants

This project started from my desire to add a pair of wide leg palazzo pants to my wardrobe. I wanted something fitted at the waist that was still flowy and comfortable, and settled on Burda 6906. The pattern suggested viscose or rayon crepe, so I went cruising through Mood fabrics selection of rayon crepes. I knew I wanted a print for these pants, and chose this green and ivory artistic rose stretch rayon crepe. The care for this fabric was hand wash in cold water and line dry or dry clean. I do dry clean on occasion but not typically [...]

Sleeveless Striped Metallic Knit Top

After last month’s complex Easter dress, I decided to keep it simple for April and make a knit top in a pattern I’ve used before with good results. The pattern is Jalie 2921. I used Mood Fabric’s oyster/brown gray metallic striped cotton jersey knit. A couple months ago I’d bought a cut of it along with its matching larger stripe for a different knit top, but the project bombed. However, I liked the fabric so much that I got another 1.5 yards and went for a garment I knew would turn out. Since I wanted more of a casual look [...]

Black & White Lace Easter Dress

I got started on my Easter dress early this year so I wouldn’t run out of time like I usually do. I fell in love with this Pamella Roland designer Vogue pattern the minute I laid eyes on it. I had to have THE EXACT SAME DRESS as the example on the envelope. But, you know, I have a lot of projects swimming around in my head at any given time, and I was willing to wait for just the right fabric to come along. When Mood Fabrics posted this Theory black cotton guipure lace a while back, I shouted [...]

Everyday Sparkles

Scraps. We all have them – those pieces that are too big to throw away but not big enough to do much with. I keep thinking I’ll use some of mine to make something for my daughter. She’s tiny and her clothing doesn’t require much yardage. I never do, though, and they just keep piling up. However, these days it’s perfectly acceptable to use several different textiles in one garment. I had a rather sizable piece of sequin fabric left over from this skirt and I decided to make it into a sweatshirt. I ordered one yard of Mood fabric’s [...]